# Gyalectidium australe

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Species of lichen-forming fungus

Gyalectidium australe Scientific classification Kingdom: Fungi Division: Ascomycota Class: Lecanoromycetes Order: Graphidales Family: Gomphillaceae Genus: Gyalectidium Species: G. australe Binomial name Gyalectidium australe Lücking (2001) Type locality: Curtain Fig National Park, Australia

***Gyalectidium australe*** is a species of [lichen](/source/Lichen)-forming [fungus](/source/Fungus) in the family [Gomphillaceae](/source/Gomphillaceae).[1] It is a [leaf-dwelling lichen](/source/Foliicolous_lichen) known from [Queensland](/source/Queensland), Australia, and [Yunnan](/source/Yunnan), China, forming tiny silvery-grey patches on living leaves. The species is distinguished by its very small, regularly dispersed [thallus](/source/Thallus) patches that produce small, horizontal, tongue-shaped reproductive structures at their margins, and it is one of the few members of its genus that develops disk-shaped [fruiting bodies](/source/Fruiting_bodies).

## Taxonomy

*Gyalectidium australe* was [described](/source/Species_description) as a new species by [Robert Lücking](/source/Robert_L%C3%BCcking) in a 2001 revision of *[Gyalectidium](/source/Gyalectidium)* by Ferraro and colleagues. In their treatment, it was placed near *[Gyalectidium caucasicum](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gyalectidium_caucasicum&action=edit&redlink=1)* and distinguished by its very small, regular [thallus](/source/Thallus) patches that produce small, horizontal, [liguliform](/source/Glossary_of_lichen_terms#liguliform) (tongue-shaped) hyphophores at the margins.[2]

## Description

The thallus forms minutely dispersed, rounded patches about 0.2–0.3 mm across, which together make well-defined aggregates about 2–5 mm across. The thallus is composed of small, blister-like segments ([areolate](/source/Glossary_of_lichen_terms#areolate)-[bullate](/source/Glossary_of_lichen_terms#bullate)) and is heavily covered with a continuous layer of crystals, giving it a silvery to whitish-grey appearance.[2]

[Hyphophores](/source/Glossary_of_lichen_terms#hyphophores) ([asexual](/source/Asexual_reproduction) reproductive structures) are produced at the margin. One or several hyphophore scales may develop from each small thallus patch, so they often overlap. The scales are horizontally oriented and liguliform, about 0.1–0.2 mm long and about 0.1 mm broad, and are described as whitish and translucent. [Apothecia](/source/Apothecia) (fruiting bodies) are present; they are angular-rounded, about 0.2–0.3 mm in diameter, with a pale yellowish-brown to greyish [disc](/source/Glossary_of_lichen_terms#disc) that can be thinly [pruinose](/source/Glossary_of_lichen_terms#pruinose), and a prominent whitish margin. The [ascospores](/source/Ascospore) are [ellipsoid](/source/Ellipsoid), 30–40 × 12–18 [μm](/source/%CE%9Cm). [Pycnidia](/source/Pycnidia) were not reported.[2]

## Habitat and distribution

Ferraro and colleagues treated *G. australe* as a foliicolous member of *Gyalectidium* (a genus mostly found on living leaves). The species was originally known only from Queensland, Australia, and was regarded as rare in the original account. A second Queensland collection was also cited from [Lake Eacham National Park](/source/Lake_Eacham_National_Park) (Wrights Creek).[2] It was later recorded from [Yunnan](/source/Yunnan), China.[3]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-CoL_3HNNF_1-0)** ["*Gyalectidium australe* Lücking"](https://www.catalogueoflife.org/data/taxon/3HNNF). *[Catalogue of Life](/source/Catalogue_of_Life)*. [Species 2000](/source/Species_2000): Leiden, the Netherlands. Retrieved 27 January 2026.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Ferraro_et_al._2001_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Ferraro_et_al._2001_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Ferraro_et_al._2001_2-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-Ferraro_et_al._2001_2-3) Ferraro, Lidia I.; Lücking, Robert; Sérusiaux, Emmanuël (2001). ["A world monograph of the lichen genus *Gyalectidium* (Gomphillaceae)"](https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1095-8339.2001.tb01126.x). *Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society*. **137** (3): 311–345. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1111/j.1095-8339.2001.tb01126.x](https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1095-8339.2001.tb01126.x).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Aptroot_et_al._2003_3-0)** Aptroot, André; Ferraro, Lidia I.; Lai, Ming-Jou; Sipman, Hariie J.M.; Sparrius, Laurens B. (2003). ["Foliicolous lichens and their lichenicolous ascomycetes from Yunnan and Taiwan"](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/216829803). *Mycotaxon*. **88**: 41–47.

Taxon identifiers Gyalectidium australe Wikidata: Q17388569 Wikispecies: Gyalectidium australe AusLichen: 30017754 CoL: 3HNNF EoL: 984668 GBIF: 3419847 IndexFungorum: 481373 MycoBank: 481373 Open Tree of Life: 3784815 SpeciesFungorum: 481373

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